Merry Christmas, Inuyasha
by SplendentGoddess
Summary: 'Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the shrine, the Higurashis were preparing a meal fine. Kagome went to retrieve the chicken with care, not knowing a certain hanyou had followed her there…okay that's enough rhyming. Inu/Kag Fluff! Enjoy!


Blanket Disclaimer:

Inuyasha, and the characters therein, are the property of Rumiko Takahashi. I am in no way affiliated with Takahashi, or VIZ Productions.

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A/N:

I just wanted to give a special thanks to my beta for this particular project, Knittingknots, for letting me pick her brain when it came to certain aspects of this story. Thank you! I usually fly solo, but sometimes a second brain and second set of eyes definitely come in handy. My general rule of thumb is that if you've really helped me put a particular story together, then you definitely deserve a sneak peak at it before everyone else once it's finished. This one-shot has passed inspection, so now it's on to the rest of you!

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~*~ Merry Christmas, Inuyasha ~*~

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"Inuyasha, why don't you come with me? My family wouldn't mind, honest."

"Feh…just be glad I'm lettin' you return for the holiday, wench. I still say celebrating some stupid festival ain't as important as searching for the jewel shards."

Sighing, Kagome knew she would never get Inuyasha to understand the importance of Christmas Eve, but he was right, at least he was allowing her to return home. Not that he could've ever really forced her to stay in the past, but she was grateful she hadn't needed to _osuwari _him in order to get her way. Even if he didn't really understand the importance of this particular holiday, the future-born-miko knew that Inuyasha understood the importance of family. She wanted him to return with her, to experience at least one night of family togetherness without having to worry about Naraku and the jewel shards, but she supposed that even if he did decide to join her family for dinner, he would never be able to fully put the worries they faced in the past out of his mind.

"I'll be back tomorrow morning." Kagome promised then, before waving her goodbyes to the other occupants of Kaede's hut.

"Give your family our well-wishes on this holiday of your countryside." Miroku stated, waving his own goodbye even as his gaze shifted sideways to observe the silently pouting hanyou.

The houshi couldn't believe that Inuyasha had turned down the offer of free food, if for no other reason to attend, but somehow, he suspected it was only because they were present. Casting a quick glance in Sango's direction, Miroku nodded when the taijiya's gaze met his own, the shared look between slayer and monk expressing their mutual belief that their demonic companion would turn up missing later that evening.

...

"Souta, dear, can you please take this outside to your grandfather?" Mrs. Higurashi asked as she handed her son a small box that had arrived for her father-in-law in the mail.

_Probably more dried 'dragon' tongue…_she thought with a chuckle.

"Sure thing." Souta said as he grabbed the package before heading for the door. He nearly crashed into his sister when she surprised him by entering the same moment he was heading out.

"Hey, Nee-chan! You made it back in time!"

Laughing, Kagome ruffled her brother's hair.

"I said I would, didn't I?"

Then looking down at the box her brother held the miko crinkled her nose, hoping it wasn't more dried animal parts. "Is that for Jii-chan?"

"Uh-huh."

"Better not keep him waiting, then." she said with a smirk as she continued entering the genkan and kicked off her shoes.

"Right. Be right back!"

Chuckling to herself as she entered the rest of the house, Kagome made her way into the kitchen, knowing that that was where she would find her mother.

"Tadaima!" she called joyously from the doorway.

"Kagome!" her mother said happily as she twirled around at her daughter's voice. "Welcome home, dear. Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas." Kagome repeated, smiling at all of the warm decorations in her family's home.

Asking her mother if she needed any help with preparations for that night's dinner, it wasn't long at all before the future-born-miko found herself hard at work slicing and chopping. While they were going to be getting fried chicken from KFC as the main course for that night's feast, Mrs. Higurashi still preferred making their side dishes from scratch.

"Is Inu no nii-chan coming for dinner tonight?" Souta asked as he reentered the kitchen a few minutes later.

"I don't think so." Kagome answered with no small amount of disappointment in her voice. "I tried to invite him, but he made it pretty clear that he didn't share my view of how special tonight was."

"Maybe he'll have a change of heart as the night grows closer." Mrs. Higurashi commented as she glanced out the kitchen window and into the branches of the Goshinboku.

She didn't know why, but it was just a feeling she had, that the dog-eared boy was more sensitive to Kagome's feelings than her daughter realized.

...

_Stupid girl…_the hanyou thought a few hours later, as he sat in the branches of a large tree, noting the low position of the sun.

He'd been lying earlier when he'd told Kagome that he didn't understand the importance of wasting time celebrating some stupid holiday. It wasn't really about the holiday itself; it was about sharing the celebration with your family, and he knew that. He still vaguely remembered celebrating Otsukimi with his mother before she died. What Inuyasha couldn't understand, really, was why the miko had invited _him _to the family affair. How could she so readily decide to include him in something that was supposed to be celebrated between family members?

_Am I really that important to her? _he found himself wondering, even as a light dusting of pink graced his nose at the thought. Fortunately, nobody was around to see it.

Inuyasha knew Kagome cared about him, but to want to include him in her family's holiday? Even his own brother didn't think of him as family.

_Half-brother…_he corrected sarcastically in his mind.

Sesshoumaru was no family of his, they just happened to share the same father. The Daiyoukai had made it perfectly clear on multiple occasions what he thought of him. Now Kagome's family, on the other hand, shared no connection to him by blood, and yet they had always been welcoming of him. How many human mothers would so readily accept their daughter having a hanyou traveling companion?

_At least I know where Kagome gets it from…_Inuyasha thought fondly. _Her mother has never opposed me for my youkai blood_.

Maybe he would give this Christmas dinner thing a try, after all, if her family truly wouldn't mind it if he attended. After all, their group was already stuck there for the night while Kagome spent the holiday with her family, anyway, so his attendance wouldn't really hurt anything, then, as far as their mission was concerned.

Mind made up, Inuyasha leapt down from his perch, a small grin finding its way to his lips as he raced to the well, just imaging the look on Kagome's face when he showed up in her time.

...

"What do you mean Kagome ain't here?"

"Sorry, Inu no nii-chan…" Souta apologized while hanging up a sign that stated how the Higurashi Shrine would be closed for the rest of the evening. "She left a few minutes ago to get the chicken. She'll be back soon." the boy explained.

"Feh…" Inuyasha grumbled, although he knew he couldn't really be mad at Kagome for leaving before he got there. She had no idea he had decided to take her up on her offer, after all.

"I know she'll be super thrilled when she gets back to find you here." Souta added after a moment, beaming up at his hero with a grin that had Inuyasha turning his head away in embarrassment, hoping the kid hadn't noticed his blush.

He was distracted from his thoughts when the front door to the main house suddenly opened and a slightly hurried Mrs. Higurashi darted outside.

"Souta, has Kagome left already?" she asked her son.

"Yeah, why?"

"Oh darn it." she exclaimed as her posture slumped slightly. "I wanted to ask her to pick up some more panko, I thought we had more than we do."

Souta cringed a little at his mother's words, remembering how he had raided the box of breadcrumbs a couple of months back to impress some girls at school. He'd used the crumbs to feed birds during recess, and it'd worked, a bunch of girls having cooed at how cute all the little birdies were, some of them even asking for a handful of crumbs so they could feed the birds themselves.

"Uh-oh…" he muttered under his breath too quietly for his mother to hear.

Inuyasha's ears swiveled at the sound, and getting the gist of what'd happened, he immediately took advantage of the opportunity.

"You want me to go after her? I can track her by scent, give her your message."

The hanyou was thrilled at the idea of having a legitimate reason to go after Kagome that wouldn't land him in trouble with the miko. He hated the idea of her wandering around her giant village all alone while he stayed at the shrine waiting for her, so now he could go track her down without having to reveal how concerned he really was.

"Oh, Inuyasha, that would be wonderful!" Mrs. Higurashi exclaimed while handing the hanyou some money. "Here, Kagome only has enough to pick up the chicken, so this will cover the cost of panko." she explained.

"Keh." he acknowledged while tucking the 1,000¥ note away.

He was just about to head out of there when Kagome's mother spoke back up, calling "Wait a minute!" before quickly ducking back inside the house.

_What the hell? Am I going or not? _

An appropriately timed breeze had the hanyou's ears flicking at the slight tickle, which immediately had him remembering, _Oh, yeah…the hat_.

He hated wearing the uncomfortable thing, but it wasn't like he didn't understand their reasoning behind it. He wasn't stupid. While Kagome's family held no prejudice for his youkai blood, that didn't mean the rest of the world would openly accept him if they ever found out what he really was. So far, the only whispers he'd ever heard about himself while in Kagome's time were about what a 'weirdo' or 'punk kid' he was, nothing about being a monster. If they only knew…

So he was expecting it when Kagome's mother reemerged from the house a minute later with a hat in her hands. What he _wasn't _expecting was for her to produce the weird-ass looking hat she was currently holding.

_What the hell is that thing? Where's that 'cap' Kagome always has me wear? _

The hat Mrs. Higurashi was holding out for him to take was red and white, and furry. The white fluff made it look like something Sesshoumaru would wear, although the vibrant red definitely more closely matched his own kimono. At least it didn't look like it would hurt his ears as much as the tighter baseball cap usually did, but it was just so silly looking. Was she really expecting him to wear it in public?

_Do I have a choice? _

"Wow, Inu no nii-chan." Souta exclaimed as he saw his hero begrudgingly place the floppy hat upon his head. "You look just like Santa Claus!"

"Huh? What claws? What're you talking 'bout, kid?"

"Here, Inuyasha…" Mrs. Higurashi said with a smile, having planned ahead since she'd figured the hat choice would catch the hanyou off guard. Holding up a porcelain plate that depicted an image of the Western icon, Kagome's mother explained, "Santa Claus is a magical person associated with this holiday. He travels from house to house in the middle of the night and brings well-behaved children presents."

"Huh…" the inu-hanyou exclaimed in stunned amazement to note how that 'Claws' person's outfit did sort of resemble his own. Well, except for the black boots.

_I knew the white fur reminded me of Sesshoumaru! _

Well…regardless of what type of youkai this 'San-ta Claws' person was, if he wasn't a villain then the hanyou wasn't going to worry about it. Inuyasha had one thought on his mind, and one thought only. _Time to go find Kagome! _

...

"Ah-choo!"

Wiping her nose on her sleeve, the miko glanced around nervously as she made her way up the busy sidewalk, suddenly feeling like she was being talked about. Still, as she glimpsed all the other people of Tokyo buzzing by her while going about their own business, it appeared as though no one was really giving thought to her one way or another.

_Then why do I feel like I'm being followed? _Kagome thought, worrying her bottom lip as she came to a busy intersection, waiting with a horde of other pedestrians for the light to change.

Suddenly, a flash of red blocked her vision, quickly followed by the sensation of flying, and the next thing Kagome knew, she was standing on the roof of the building she had previously been standing beside down on the ground, staring up into the very smug visage of a certain inu-hanyou.

"Inuyasha! Kami, you scared me half to death!"

His ears drooped at her words; it hadn't been his intention to frighten the girl. Of course, Kagome missed the shift in his audio-appendages, considering they were currently being concealed, although by _what _quickly captured her attention, as she put all previous thoughts of leaving her stomach down on the street out of her mind at the sight of him sporting a furry Santa Claus hat.

"Oh, kawaii!" she squealed, causing his concealed ears to flatten even more.

"Damn, woman." he griped, a grimace appearing on his face. "Not so high pitched!"

"Oh, sorry…" she giggled nervously. "But where on Earth did you get that hat? And why are you even here?" Then thinking of something, the teenager adopted a more stern posture as she stated "I thought you said Christmas was a waste of time."

"Uh…well…" he started slowly, a light dusting of pink returning to his nose. "Y-your mom put this hat on me…" he confessed, "…and the reason I'm here is because she needed me to find you!" he added quickly, before the girl could decide he had come after her of his own accord. Of course, he _would _have, had Mrs. Higurashi not needed him to relay her message, but Kagome didn't need to know that.

_That still doesn't explain why he's __here__… _the miko thought in reference to her side of the well, although she decided to let that matter go with a small grin curling up the edges of her lips. He must have decided it wouldn't be such a waste of time after all, to celebrate the holiday with her, and for that she was truly grateful.

"Mama needed you to find me?" she asked instead.

"Uh…yeah." he answered slowly, still mildly embarrassed from her reaction over the hat.

"Here…" he added after a moment, pulling out the money her mother had given to him. "She said besides the chicken, she needed you to pick up some more panko."

Accepting the money, Kagome had a confused look on her face. "Really? That's odd…there should still be plenty left."

Inuyasha shrugged. "Apparently Souta knows something about it. He was muttering to himself and smelled nervous, but your mom didn't catch it."

Mentally giggling, Kagome wondered just what her little brother had done _this _time.

"Okay, well…thanks for tracking me down." she stated after a moment. "I'm sure Mama really appreciated it."

"K-keh."

Giggling out loud that time, Kagome pointed out, "Can you take me back to the street? I've got two stops to make, now, so I need to get a move on."

_That's it? _the hanyou thought with a frown. _I'm being dismissed? _

"Keh."

After being safely deposited on the ground along the backside of the office building so that nobody would notice their descent from the roof, the miko started to walk back towards the street before noticing the somewhat forlorn look of the man staying behind.

_That Christmas hat definitely matches his robes better than that silly baseball cap he usually has to wear_, she noted, realizing that there was really no reason to send him back to the shrine in that moment. For once, he didn't really stand out all that badly.

"Well, come on. I could definitely use your help carrying everything back." she stated with a playful edge to her voice, smiling to herself at the way his eyes lit up before he quickly covered it up with a gruffly mumbled, "Feh…weakling that you are."

Rolling her eyes, Kagome made no further comment as she resumed walking. The next few minutes passed by rather uneventfully, as Inuyasha traveled beside Kagome down the busy sidewalks of her time to the local grocery store. He still received a few strange looks from various passers by, although most comments were solely about his sword, for once, instead of his white hair. Apparently, most people just assumed he was dressed up as his own interpretation of their holiday icon. There was some mild debate among a few people as to whether his hair was bleached or a wig, but at least nobody was calling him a punk or a freak. Not that anybody had ever called him such a thing to his face while in Kagome's time, but it was a nice change to not hear the whispers for once. Now they were just wondering why a Santa impersonator was carrying a katana. Inuyasha was glad to learn that apparently, this holiday spirit, whatever he was, wasn't known for possessing any type of weapon.

_Of course, he hardly needs a sword if he's got three big claws_…*

But he was clearly not a figure to be feared, so Inuyasha vowed not to give the matter any more thought as he entered the grocery store along side Kagome.

"Now, no detouring to the ramen isle." the miko spoke up playfully yet seriously. "We are here to get panko, and panko only."

"Keh."

The indoor market of Kagome's time always overwhelmed him. There were just so many different smells! Some of the odors were unpleasant, and he found himself covering his nose with his sleeve as they walked past an isle of cleaning products, but for the most part, the experience was a good one for the 15th century hanyou. While he usually didn't show it, Inuyasha really enjoyed his few outings into Kagome's world. It was just so foreign from his own, and to see how different the world she came from really was, it helped him to be a little more understanding of the girl when her differences shined through in some of the things she said or did.

"Santa…?"

"Huh?"

Inuyasha was pulled from his musings by a gentle tug on his sleeve, and glancing down, he noticed a small boy, no older than five or six, staring back up at him with wide eyes. His own eyes widened a bit as he began glancing around nervously for the boy's mother. Temporarily forgetting that the villagers of Kagome's world didn't know he was a hanyou, the last thing he wanted was some random woman freaking out and accusing him of planning to capture and eat her child.

"Beat it, kid. I ain't Santa." he said gruffly, hoping the lad would wander off on his own.

"Nuh-uh, don't fib." the boy stated with conviction, not detoured in the slightest.

Glancing back in Kagome's direction, he saw the girl making her selection from a few different varieties of breadcrumbs. Then picking up her choice off the shelf, she turned to meet Inuyasha's worried eyes with an immediate look of concern appearing in her own.

"What is it, Inuyasha?"

"This kid won't leave me alone." he mumbled quietly, gesturing to the boy still standing by his side.

Sniffing the air a second time in the hopes of locating the boy's mother or father still revealed no adults anywhere nearby that carried the child's scent.

"My name's Kouki!" the boy exclaimed with pride, giving Inuyasha and Kagome a wide grin that revealed a couple of missing teeth.

"Well…hello there, Kouki-kun. My name's Kagome." the miko stated with a polite smile down at the boy, before glancing back up to meet Inuyasha's troubled gaze.

He shook his head in the negative to her silent question. It looked like the boy was alone.

"Are you friends with Santa?" Kouki asked Kagome in wonder, his innocent brown eyes full of amazement.

Giggling a little under her breath at Inuyasha's quiet cursing, she decided to humor the child and answered with, "Yes, Santa and I are friends."

"Wow…" the boy murmured in awe, gazing up at Kagome with the same look of hero-worship her younger brother often bestowed upon the hanyou himself.

"Kagome…let's get out of here." Inuyasha said quietly after a moment, not liking the sudden attention they were getting as more and more shoppers began glancing in their direction.

"We can't just leave him here all alone." she answered with a shake of her head, before bending down to speak to Kouki once more. "Who are you here with?" she asked the youth.

_The kid's parents must be worried sick! _

With a sad frown taking over the child's features, Kouki mumbled something too quiet for Kagome to pick up, although the way Inuyasha suddenly stiffened beside her told the miko that he had heard the boy just fine.

"What is it?" she asked Inuyasha.

Leaning closer to whisper into the miko's ear, so as not to let any of the other shoppers overhear him, he told Kagome what the boy had said…that he couldn't find his mother.

"Oh dear…" the teenager murmured in return.

"Santa?" Kouki spoke up in that moment. "Could you help me find her? You know where everyone is on Earth, right? So don't you know where she is?"

"I…" _I ain't Santa! _the inu-hanyou wanted to yell, although one look around them stilled his tongue.

"We'll have to tell the authorities we've found a lost child." he heard the girl beside him say in a sad, quiet voice. "Hopefully he'll be able to tell them enough about where he lives that they can find out who his mother is. Or maybe she's already reported him missing."

"Wait…" Inuyasha spoke up for clarity. "So if she hasn't yet told whoever's in charge that he's gone, and he can't tell them who his mom is, then they have no way of getting him back to her?"

"Tokyo is a big place, Inuyasha." Kagome explained with sympathy lacing her voice for Kouki's plight. "It's not like Kaede's village where everyone knows everybody. The police won't have any idea who his mother is unless he can tell them where he lives, or until she comes forward herself to report her missing son, and they put two and two together."

"So what happens to him in the mean time?"

"He'll go to a place where they care for missing children until the parents can be found and contacted."

At those words, little Kouki started sniffling, smart enough to know the woman was talking about him being kept away from his mother.

"I want my Mama…" the boy mumbled pitifully. "Please, Santa?" he pleaded with bright, tear-filled eyes.

Kagome was torn. If they left with the child wouldn't that be considered kidnapping? But on the other hand, she was sure Inuyasha could probably track down the boy's mother faster than any police officer would ever be able to do. The woman had to be worried sick. Families shouldn't get ripped apart at any time of the year, but it had to be especially hard during the holidays.

"Kagome…" the inu-hanyou spoke up in that moment, pulling the girl from her thoughts.

She was expecting him to say something about her telling whoever she needed to tell about the kid and the two of them getting the heck out of there, so she was understandably surprised, and also proud, when he instead met her eyes with a flash of determination before ordering, "Hurry up and buy that stuff. I don't wanna let the trail get cold."

With her own internal dilemma immediately resolved at Inuyasha's sudden decision, it was with a quick nod and an assertive "Right." that the miko darted off to the check stand, while Inuyasha glanced down at the boy and said, "All right, kid, Santa will help you find your Okaa-san."

"Thank you!" Kouki shouted in joy, wrapping his arms around Inuyasha's legs.

A few more shoppers glanced in his direction, but because nobody had actually overheard their conversation, everyone just assumed that the child was with him and Kagome. Once she returned from the checkout with her bag of panko bought and paid for, the three of them were able to stroll right out of the store without a single person saying or doing anything to stop them.

"Did your Okaa-san help you get dressed before leaving for the market?" Inuyasha asked Kouki once they were outside.

"Uh-huh." the boy acknowledged in the affirmative.

Kagome was just about to ask Inuyasha what he had in mind when her eyes widened in surprise at the sight of him carefully picking up the child. Unlike anyone from the Sengoku jidai, the future-born-miko knew that Inuyasha would never in his life hurt a child, so she wasn't so much worried as she was curious, until she smiled in understanding once she saw him sniffing at the boy's clothing.

_Almost…almost…got it! _the hanyou grinned, locking in on the scent of the boy's mother. Now it was just a matter of finding that scent on the sidewalk.

"Here…" he said, passing the boy off to Kagome before dropping to the ground.

Holding Kouki against her hip, the miko had to suppress a giggle as he asked, "What's Santa doing?"

"Everyone has different footprints…" she started to explain to the child, deciding she better not say anything about Santa having a bloodhound's sense of smell. _Actually, it's probably much better than a bloodhound's, I'm sure_… she mentally corrected in that moment.

"You know how Santa has the power to see everyone on Earth?" Kagome asked then.

"Yeah…" Kouki answered, fully engrossed in her explanation.

"Well, he can see everyone's footprints, too. But a lot of people have been walking here, so he needs to get really close to the ground to look for your Mama's footprints underneath everyone else's."

"Ohhh…." the boy said in sage-like understanding.

Inuyasha just snorted.

Glancing up at the wench, his thought to insult her stupid explanation died on his tongue at the sight of her smiling down at the child she held in her arms. She looked good mothering a kid.

_Really don't need to be thinking things like that! _he argued with himself before promptly getting back to work. He had found the mother's scent in two different places, so now he needed to determine which scent was fresher than the other, because one trail was undoubtedly from her arriving at the store, and the other one was from her leaving. They couldn't risk following the wrong trail.

"There!" he exclaimed a moment later. "Got it." he said, straitening up and meeting Kagome's eyes. "This way!"

...

"Yippy!" Kouki shouted in glee from his place cradled between Kagome and Inuyasha, as the miko held the boy firmly while she and the child both rode upon Inuyasha's back.

Running as fast as he dared without his speed appearing completely unnatural, the inu-hanyou zipped in between the crowds, his nose maintaining a firm lock on the scent trail left by Kouki's mother as he subsequently ignored everything else around him. He had already instructed Kagome that she needed to be looking out for other things that might be a danger while they ran, because he had a tendency to get tunnel vision when he let his nose lead him that strongly. The miko had been surprised by the admittance, not having expected the 'great'Inuyasha to fess up to his youkai senses having any form of a weakness, but she had also readily agreed to help keep a lookout so that he could concentrate on following his nose.

"Red light." she said with enough of a warning that Inuyasha could slow their gait smoothly.

Zipping in between people on the sidewalk was one thing, but Kagome had no desire to let Inuyasha zip them in between traffic on the street, especially since it wasn't just the two of them.

"Faster! Faster!" Kouki shouted while bouncing up and down a bit in his excitement.

So far, the boy's mother was leading them on quite the wild goose chase. After realizing that her trail circled the block of the supermarket three times they finally found a straight line that lead them away from the market and into a parking lot, where she had apparently gotten into her car and driven off. Inuyasha had mumbled something to Kagome under his breath about the woman's scent being laced with hysteria. Kagome had feared the worst when he'd revealed that she'd gotten into a car, until he informed the miko that the metal contraptions they traveled around in leaked out plenty of their scent into the air, and that he could still follow her without difficulty.

"Okay…you wanted faster…" Inuyasha started as the light turned green and everyone began crossing the street. "You got faster!"

"Yay!"

"Inuyasha, slow down!" Kagome cried, worried over what people might think to see them pass by as nothing more than a blur. Then again, they wouldn't really know _what _had passed them by, now would they?

Suddenly, they turned down a small side street and into a quieter neighborhood that didn't have anywhere near the number of people walking around as the main sidewalks did.

"We're almost there!" the hanyou called back to his charges. "The scent is real fresh now! She just passed by here!"

"There's my house!" Kouki cried suddenly, pointing to a row of small suburban houses.

Slowing his pace to that of a swift walk, the hanyou asked for clarity, "The one with the red roof, right?"

"Yup!"

Coming to a stop out front of the small house that had the car he had been tracking parked out front on the curb, Inuyasha straightened slowly enough to allow Kagome and Kouki time to slide down from his back without falling. Unfortunately, the large pompom on the end of his Santa hat had somehow managed to hook the handle of Kagome's grocery bag during the run. So as the miko stepped away from her companion, the hat was yanked from his head.

_Crap! _he thought frantically, quickly making a grab for the hat that Kagome was scrambling to untangle from plastic handle of her bag.

Quickly putting the hat back on his head, he glanced down in Kouki's direction only to feel a wave of dread overtake him as he saw the way the boy was staring up at him with wide, unblinking eyes.

"Santa's…a doggy?" the child murmured to himself in disbelief.

"Shhhh…" Kagome said in that moment, bending down and offering the child a playful wink, hoping her plan would work. "That's got to be our little secret, okay?"

"Okay!" Kouki agreed happily, before making a mad dash for his home. "Mama!" he called.

Quickly, the front door flew open, to reveal a red-eyed woman with tear tracks running down her cheeks and a cordless phone in her hand; she promptly dropped the phone.

"Oh, Kouki! I searched everywhere!" the woman cried, dropping to her knees as fresh tears, this time of relief, poured freely down her cheeks. Her son quickly closed the gap between them and embraced his mother in a fierce hug.

"Santa saved me!" he stated excitedly, turning so that his mom could look back and see for herself how Santa had brought him home to her, but by the time they both turned to look back at the street, no one was there.

...

"That was a very wonderful thing you did back there." Kagome said softly as she and Inuyasha made their way across the rooftops of Tokyo in the hopes of making it back to KFC before the restaurant decided to sell her mother's reserved order to somebody else.

"Keh."

"I mean it." the miko insisted. "We could've just called the police and been done with it, but instead, you went out of your way to make sure mother and son would be reunited in time for Christmas, thank you."

"Uh…y-your welcome." he mumbled quietly, embarrassed by Kagome's words of gratitude.

Maybe it had been because thinking about the miko's holiday had reminded him of festivities he used to share with his own mother, but seeing that little boy lost and alone and wanting his mother had made Inuyasha feel something he never used to feel for other humans until the day Kagome had entered his life, compassion. The old him wouldn't have cared less, and the hanyou actually found himself feeling a little ashamed to admit that so easily. While he'd never really been a _bad _guy, per se, he definitely hadn't been a good guy, either.

_Kagome's changing me…_ he thought as they continued to race from building to building, following her directions to the fast food establishment. _But I think…I think that might be a good thing_.

Twenty minutes later, the chicken was purchased, and with Kagome unable to hold onto Inuyasha's back while carrying a full bucket of chicken, not to mention the small grocery bag of panko, the pair walked back to the shrine the rest of the way side by side, Inuyasha gentlemanly carrying the bucket, of course. Kagome had been hesitant at first, having thought he could carry the panko instead, but his offer to carry the bucket for her had been genuine, with no barb about how she might drop it in her excessive clumsiness. So deciding to trust in that moment that the half-inu man wouldn't suddenly do something doggish like devour the entire bucket of chicken himself, she'd handed it over.

The chicken was not only still whole, but still hot by the time they made it back to Kagome's family, considering the KFC up the street wasn't really that far of a walk. If anyone wondered why it had taken them so long just to detour to the grocery store for some panko, nobody commented on it as dinner preparations immediately went underway at the main course's arrival. Inuyasha had to admit, after smelling the tantalizing aroma of the Colonel's original recipe for fifteen minutes straight he was really looking forward to spending dinner with Kagome's family.

After dinner was over the Christmas cake was served, and then a brief exchanging of presents went underway, the Higurashi family doing their gift-giving the night before. Inuyasha was a little confused, since he had been under the impression that Santa Claus brought presents in the middle of the night, which would then be opened come morning, but Kagome's mother explained in that moment that besides the gifts from Santa, it was traditional during Christmas time to buy presents for each other, as well, and so that was why they exchanged their gifts before going to bed. Inuyasha missed the knowing look shared between grinning mother and daughter while young Souta busily tore the wrapping paper off his newest video game.

_I stopped believing in Santa for a while there…_Kagome mused in passing before chancing a glance at the hanyou by her side, who was still wearing the furry hat he'd apparently forgotten to remove. _But maybe he exists, after all_.

The miko's good mood stayed with her all throughout the rest of the evening, and inviting Inuyasha to stay the night in her time if he wished once it was time to go to bed, Kagome made her way upstairs with a slowly developing feeling of giddy nervousness in her stomach. While Inuyasha hadn't been included in the gift-exchange downstairs, she actually had gotten him a present, not that she had known 100% at the time of purchase whether or not she would actually brave giving it to him. But with the somewhat laid back attitude he'd been displaying ever since leaving KFC, the miko was fairly sure that he wouldn't throw her gift back in her face. She hoped.

Quickly changing into her pajamas and calling for Inuyasha when it was safe for him to enter her bedroom, the fifteen-year-old had to fight off her sudden butterflies with a mental baseball bat, the implications of being alone in her room with a boy – which she had always conveniently overlooked before now – suddenly deciding to make themselves known during the romantic holiday. Of course, the inu-hanyou had never been filled in on the romantic aspects of Christmas Eve and what the night actually meant for young couples in love, and Kagome certainly didn't plan on telling him now. It was enough for her to enjoy this simple moment in time, of Inuyasha being with her, in her world, where they were safe from the harsh realities of life in the Sengoku jidai. For this one night, Inuyasha didn't have to worry about food. For this one night, Inuyasha didn't have to worry about shelter. For this one night, Inuyasha didn't have to worry about staying on guard, lest something think to end his life before dawn. For this one night, Inuyasha was safe, and he was part of a family who loved him, and Kagome figured that when it really boiled down to it, that was probably the best Christmas present she ever could've given him, right there.

That hadn't stopped her from shopping for him, though.

Or at least trying to, considering how hard Inuyasha really was to shop for.

_What do you get for the guy who has nothing? _

Inuyasha had been known to say that the only things he owned were his sword and the clothes on his back, and the miko was bound and determined to change that.

_So okay, he carries a flint stone and fire steel in a small leather pouch, but I would hardly call those things cherished possessions_.

"Inuyasha…?" Kagome spoke up hesitantly in that moment.

"Yeah, Kagome? What's up?" he asked.

For once in his life, Inuyasha was completely, 100% relaxed. He was so glad he had ended up deciding to take Kagome up on her offer to join her family for that night's festivities. He still didn't understand why they had all so readily agreed to let him join them, but he was humble enough to accept the gift without question. At least out loud. He would silently question himself as to how the miko could think so highly of him for a while to come, he was sure, but on the surface, it was enough to know that she cared. 'Why' wasn't really all that important.

Still, even with as welcomed as Kagome's family had made him feel, the hanyou had still felt a little out of place during their gift-exchanging ceremony, knowing that he didn't have a present to give any of them himself. Mrs. Higurashi had insisted that his decision to join them for dinner was a good enough Christmas present in and of itself, but he suspected she was just trying to be polite, which also meant a lot to him since where he came from, nobody would ever go out of there way to avoid hurting the feelings of a hanyou. Doing the only thing he could think of as even the most remote form of payment for all the kindness the Higurashi family had shown him on that night, and every other time before then, for that matter, Inuyasha had decided to 'forget' to remove his Santa Claus hat, knowing how cute Kagome and her mother both found it to be on him.

Now, looking at himself in the Santa hat for the first time as he observed his reflection in Kagome's full-length mirror, he asked Kagome what was up with a casual tone to his voice, not immediately picking up on how nervous the girl had suddenly become.

"I…uh…" the miko began hesitantly, unsure of how to start, and finally noticing that Kagome wasn't her usual, chipper self, Inuyasha pulled the hat from his head, tossing it on her bed before turning to face her directly, his ears unobstructed and aimed forward.

"What is it? Is something wrong?"

"Oh no!" Kagome insisted right away. "Nothing's wrong, I just…"

Blushing despite herself, which immediately earned Inuyasha's full attention as he cocked his head to the side in canine curiosity, Kagome decided to stop fumbling over her words and just reached into her bedroom dresser, where she pulled out a small box that had already been gift wrapped.

"Merry Christmas." she stated, handing it over.

Immediately, Inuyasha's eyes grew to the size of saucers. "You…you got me a present?" he questioned in utter amazement, even as he stretched out a hand to accept the girl's offering.

"Well, sure." the miko answered with a warm smile, tucking both hands behind her back and secretly crossing her fingers that he wouldn't think it was stupid.

In total awe, Inuyasha stared at the small box in his hands while stating bashfully, "I thought…I thought just spending the holiday with you guys was my present." Then meeting Kagome's eyes he nervously confessed, "I don't have anything for you in return."

"Don't worry about it." she told him honestly. "You coming here, enjoying this night with my family, not to mention what you did earlier for that little boy…you've definitely given me plenty of gifts this Christmas."

With a nice dusting of pink coating his own nose and cheeks, Inuyasha began tearing into the wrapping paper concealing the mysterious present, suddenly understanding the way Souta had felt when he'd torn into his own gifts downstairs. With the colorful Christmas paper fully removed, Inuyasha found himself staring at a rather simple wooden box. He never could have prepared himself for what he saw once he lifted the lid.

"A…knife?"

Sitting innocently on a thin pad of cushion within the wooden box was a small but functional Higinokami folding knife. Kagome had thought long and hard, and had realized that she shouldn't waste her time (and money) buying Inuyasha anything that was cute but served no real purpose, tradition be damned. What the hell would he need with a teddy bear? Besides, this particular pocketknife was still rather cute, considering she had managed to find a knife shop that had all sorts of decorations carved into the handles of their products, and she had purchased one for him that had an image of a dog carved into it.

"I know I already carry a knife in my backpack that we use for cleaning our catches whenever you hunt or fish…" she began rambling lamely, "…but I figured you might appreciate having a small knife of your own, if…you know…you didn't like having to borrow mine, or whatever."

As Inuyasha continued to just stare at the knife with an impossible to read emotion in his eyes, her nervousness only grew more severe. Did he think it was pointless? Did he think it was stupid? She honestly had no idea how he used to clean his catches back when he'd been alone, prior to the two of them getting together, prior to his life with Kikyou… Had he used his claws like some animal? But he wasn't an animal! Kagome had never thought of Inuyasha as an animal, and she knew that in reality, his claws weren't even sharp enough to slice off strips of meet from fish or game, anyway. They were pointy, but they were also thick, like dog claws, and how deadly they became was a direct result of how much youki he infused into them during one of his slashing claw attacks. It was the energy of his youkai-self that he actually cut with, even when his claws touched the enemy, even when they became coated with the enemy's blood. To just straight up use his claws like ten tiny knives during some mundane task? She mentally shook her head at the absurdity of such a notion. He would have to use his youki, no matter what, although what she didn't know was how hard it actually was on his body's energy level to bring forth that kind of power for everyday purposes. Maybe slicing up food with his youki was no big deal? One thing was for certain, and that was that he did not already own a small metal knife, so he had either been forced to utilize the magical forces of his youki to slice through his prey in the past, or he had fashioned for himself some sort of knife from a sharp rock or shell which he no longer carried.

The subject had honestly never come up, because as soon as Kagome had come to grips with the fact that her presence was required in the past to help correct the mistake of shattering the Shikon no Tama, right after all that craziness with Yura of the Hair, the pampered fifteen-year-old had still possessed enough survival smarts to know that a pocketknife would definitely need to be among the provisions she brought with her on a regular basis. It had taken a few days during the first trip out before Inuyasha had needed to provide a meal for the two of them, since Kagome had packed up a lot of prepackaged food like ramen and potato chips, but when he had finally been required to fish, she'd immediately pulled out the knife to assist with the cleaning, and he had taken it from her to proceed in the task, never once producing his own knife or implying that he didn't need to use one. In fact, if Kagome recalled correctly, then she would say that Inuyasha had actually looked the tiniest bit relieved at that time.

_Maybe it's no big deal for him, physically, to use his youki in such a way, but he had been afraid of my opinion of him if I saw him cutting up my food with his bare hands_…

That was certainly a possibility. Whatever the case might be, however, at that point in time the miko just wished that Inuyasha would say something…_anything_…to let her know how he felt, because just standing there in silence while he continued to gaze down at the knife he had yet to remove from its box was getting more than a little unnerving.

Not that it was Inuyasha's intention to weird Kagome out with the way he had yet to say or do anything other than utter in surprise the name of his present. The fact of the matter was that he did not, nor had he ever owned a knife, metal or otherwise. While he was loath to reveal to his friends what type of a person he'd used to be, the fact of the matter was that at most times, he had raided human villages for food. Why did they suppose he had been so close to Kaede's village in the first place all those years back? It wasn't because of the Shikon no Tama, or at least not originally. He had already been in the area, and had actually already bumped into Kikyou, before he'd even learned of the existence of the sacred jewel. Then again, he supposed that nobody besides Kikyou had ever known that little fact, and so it was natural for everyone else to assume that he had only been around because of the Shikon jewel. It was certainly why he had decided to stick around afterwards, rather than moving on to the next village.

Prior to meeting Kikyou, whenever Inuyasha had needed to fend for himself out in the wild, he had usually kept his prey small, like fish or rabbits, which were easy enough to cook whole and then rip apart with his bare hands and fangs afterwards. Even though his claws weren't really all that sharp, his teeth certainly were, so meals had usually consisted of him holding up large chunks of food and ripping off bite sized pieces with his teeth. He would use his youki to gut and bleed his catches, but it was a messy procedure since he could only slash quickly, and his aim was far from laser-perfect.

He had definitely appreciated it when Kagome had first produced her own pocketknife, offering to clean their fish herself since he had been the one to catch them. Of course, Inuyasha had immediately proceeded to clean their fish himself, feeling it his place to provide their latest meal from start to finish after the way the girl had already fed him for the first few days of their journey. He hadn't said anything to her at the time, but Inuyasha had been extremely grateful of Kagome and her ninja food. Just the idea that somebody would willingly give a hanyou food… Of course, they had been required to work together to reassemble the sacred jewel, and so he had attempted to convince himself that the act hadn't had any greater significance outside of necessity. Still, it had crossed his mind while he'd been fishing that now that they were out of her special food, the girl would end up witnessing just how much of an animal he really was, roughly tearing into the bellies of their fish. When he'd seen her holding up her knife he'd immediately snatched it from her hands, grateful the disaster had been averted, and he'd used her knife every time since then, in no way missing how he'd used to deal with his catches prior to having use of such a tool. She miraculously hadn't thought of him as a monster, for some reason, and the hanyou had every intention of _keeping _it that way.

_She definitely doesn't think of me as a monster if she's giving me my own knife_… he realized in wonder. _My__ knife…_he thought with pride.

It was something he could rightfully call his own, that he hadn't found or stolen. Even his flint and fire steel he had acquired during his youth off the body of a dead traveler out in the forest. This knife was different; a possession of his very own like his fire-rat robe and Tetsusaiga, something _given _to him by somebody who cared. Something _meant _for him. A small knife was a necessary tool that he had spent far too much of his life without, and even though some nagging little part of his pride wanted to tell him that he should feel embarrassed that a human girl had had to _give _him one, he was far too grateful of Kagome and the wonderful present to let himself feel ashamed over the fact that he hadn't already owned one on his own. She knew his whole story by that point; she knew why he didn't own anything except for his weapon and the clothes on his back. Hell, back when they'd first met, he hadn't even had the Tetsusaiga yet! She'd given him _that _blade, too, in a roundabout sort of way. He definitely never would've come to possess it if it hadn't been for her. If she didn't think poorly of him already, then she never would, he realized in that moment, finally glancing up from his present to meet her eyes with his own.

"Kagome…" he murmured, unsure of what to say, although recognizing the look of worry in the girl's chocolate orbs immediately told the hanyou that he needed to say _something_.

"Thank you." he settled on, before carefully pulling the knife from the box and experimenting with how it opened and closed. He even tested its sharpness by pressing the tip firmly against the pad of his index finger, the normal steel of course being unable to cause him any injury, although he could still recognize that it was definitely sharp enough to use against mortal flesh.

It was a good knife.

Noticing the symbol of the Akita carved into the hilt, he chuckled a bit under his breath before folding the knife closed for the last time and carefully replacing it in the box, closing the lid. He then handed the box back to Kagome, which she took from him on impulse, but before the girl could start to question his action, he began untying his suikan. Instead of getting even more confused at the sight of Inuyasha seemingly undressing right there in the middle of her bedroom, Kagome's eyes softened with understanding, as she saw him work open his fire-rat robe to access the small leather pouch he kept secured close to his person, attached to the obi of his kosode. Unfastening and opening the top of the small, soft leather sagemono he had made for himself long ago, Inuyasha then gestured with an outstretched hand for Kagome to give him back the knife, which she did without hesitation, a warm smile gracing her features at the sight of him carefully tucking the blade, in its thin wooden box, into his carrying pouch.

After getting his bag resecured and his outer robe refastened, Inuyasha glanced up a second time only to blush again at the look in Kagome's eyes. The telltale shimmer of moisture gathering in her pools of chocolate told Inuyasha that he had made her cry, again, only this time, his nose immediately informed him that they were 'happy' tears. It was only then that he realized how much of herself she had apparently had riding on his reaction to her present. Inuyasha realized in that moment that if he had rejected her gift, there would've still been tears gathering in her eyes, but for an entirely different reason.

_I hate it when she cries, but if she's got to do it, then I guess cryin' over mushy crap is better than me being an ass and hurting her feelings_.

"Hey, don't go gettin' all emotional on me, now." he said playfully in that moment, and she chuckled a little at his words, before apologetically wiping at her tears.

"I'm just so glad you like it." Kagome admitted quietly.

_More than you'll ever know…_ the hanyou thought before spying the girl's digital camera on her nightstand, suddenly realizing how he could get her something for Christmas, after all.

Choosing to completely ignore her comment out loud, he pointed at the camera before asking for clarity, "Hey, that's that magic box that captures images, right? The one for making those portraits that look so damn real?"

He had absolutely no idea what a camera really was, but he knew enough not to be afraid of the stupid thing, as if it honestly captured a part of his soul, as Kagome had told him some primitive folk had been known to fear. The girl had brought her camera back into the past with her on a couple of occasions, wanting to take some pictures of the village and their friends to share with her family, although she didn't bring it with her very often for fear of something happening to it.

"Yeah…" Kagome answered slowly, confused by his sudden change of topic. "Why?"

In answer to her question, Inuyasha reached for where he had discarded the Santa hat on her bed, and replacing it upon his head, he did his best to strike a pose before stating with a grin, "Well, hurry up, and you _better _not show anybody back in my time."

Giggling and clapping her hands in delight, Kagome immediately reached for her camera, and turning it on, she found her butterflies were back with a vengeance over the realization of just what he was doing for her.

Quickly snapping off a couple of pictures, Kagome then turned the camera back off while telling him, "Okay, all done."

Grinning a toothy grin that revealed his fangs, Inuyasha once again removed the Santa Claus hat from his head, before walking forward and plopping it down on the miko's head, instead. Taking a moment to adjust the position of the pompom while she giggled but made no move to stop him, Inuyasha stepped back once he was satisfied, and taking a mental picture of Kagome he knew he would never forget, his playful grin turned into a more serious smile as he patted his side where she knew he kept his sagemono, before stating, "Merry Christmas, Kagome."

"Merry Christmas, Inuyasha."

* * *

* Just a comical play on words, since in Japanese "san ta" can be translated as "three big", depending on the kanji used. I realize it's a little Japanglish, since the word "claws" is in English for our benefit (the Japanese word for claw is tsume), but eh…the characters all think they're only speaking one language, don't they? :-)


End file.
